Friday, September 18, 2009

Beyond Jimmy Carter level dumb

Jimmy Carter has said some pretty dumb things of late. For that matter he's been saying pretty dumb things for seventy years, but that's beside the point. His latest comments, that people disagree with Obama's health care plan because they are racist, have drawn a lot of attention and made a few headlines. Yeah, it was dumb for him to say it, but it's even dumber for people to believe it. Nobody in their right mind could take that statement as anything other than sour grapes. Or could they?

For exhibit A, I give you Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun Times, and her article published on Sept. 17.

Say what you will, but former president Jimmy Carter is too old to lie. At 85, he's seen the best and worst of human nature.Wait, you mean people lose the ability to lie with old age? I did not know that. You'd think this would be common knowledge, like Alzheimer's. Maybe we ought to raise the minimum age for the presidency.So, when he says the "You lie!" shouted at President Obama during his address to Congress last week was "based on racism," he is speaking with wisdom.The wisdom of a man able to fight back rampaging bunny rabbits.

The heckler, Rep. Joe Wilson, has apologized to the president, and the South Carolina Republican was formally rebuked by the U.S. House on Tuesday.However, Carter's comments echoed what a lot of African Americans are thinking.Would Wilson have heckled a Reagan, or a Bush or a Clinton while these white men were delivering a speech before Congress?Certainly, no white president has ever been heckled. Except when democrats booed during George W's speeches.

A lot of people believe that Wilson would have bit his tongue before he hurled an insult at a white president.A lot of people would have held their tongues before stating a lie about a proposal that could be easily checked. Especially in front of the people who had access to the proposal.Really, it was an unbelievable moment.I would imagine so. It's not everyday that the television audience gets to play "Jinx 1 2 3" with a Representative from South Carolina.

Wilson shouted that the president of the United States was a liar before the entire Congress and the millions of people who watched the speech on television.It's not like Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi ever called a president a liar.Think about that.Ihave.President George Bush was so wrong about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, he should have been impeached.Except that they had used chemical weapons against the Kurds, and couldn't prove that they didn't still have them. And had plenty of time to move them around while the UN stalled for time.Thousands of young lives were at stake, and not one elected official ever got angry enough to call Bush a liar during a public speech.See: Harry Reid(Soc-NV), Peter Stark(Com-CA)

No matter how bad things were going in this country, Bush was respected as the president of the United States.When things were going good in this country, Bush was shown nothing but disrespect by those on the left.Carter is daring to suggest that Wilson's behavior was steeped in the old Southern creed that says a black man is not equal to a white man.Maybe if Robert "KKK" Byrd had made the comment, Carter would have a point.

During a critical address to the Congress, Obama was not given the same level of respect his predecessors were given.Obama also resorted to a level of audacious lying that would have made Bill Clinton blush. That couldn't have anything to do with it though. No, Obama is the great one, it has to be racism.

Some of his Republican opponents twittered. Some waved signs and booklets. Some sat stone-faced.

Wilson shouted, "You lie!"A man can only take so much."It [racism] has bubbled up to the surface," Carter said, and pointed out that many white people "not just in the South" believed that African Americans are not qualified to lead.There's maybe a dozen people in this country, of any color, qualified to lead. Most of them are busy being productive and staying away from politics, however.Only Wilson knows what prompted him to act the way he did. Wilson, and everybody else who has ever lost their temper over a blatant lie going unchallenged.

But given the rancor that led up to the president's speech, I'm not surprised that this Southerner lost control of himself.Isn't it a little bigoted to make judgements about Wilson based solely on his region of origin?After all, the South did not go for Obama.Neither did Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota...In fact, an expert with the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies put it this way: The South has seceded a second time.Let me check my pay stub. Yup, they're still taking out social security and income taxes. I'm pretty sure that would stop if Texas seceded. Oh, and there would be battles raging.

But the Obama White House will have nothing to do with a debate involving race."The president does not believe that criticism comes based on the color of his skin," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.Can it be that Obama knows exactly what he has done to bring on the criticism? Or that he knows he lied?That response doesn't take into account that when Obama ran for the White House, he was dispatched a security detail earlier than any other candidate.The man's from Chicago. He needed a security detail just to pick up his mail.Or that near the end of the campaign, racists started showing up at his opponent's rallies.They showed up at his rallies too. Again, see Robert Byrd.

Unfortunately, the passionate debate over health care has also provided a platform for people who cling to a white supremacy doctrine.Because even they have sense enough to see that socialized medicine is a bad idea.These people show up at so-called Tea Parties with racist signs that depict Obama as a Nazi and a witch doctor.Somebody is missing the point here. Yes, Nazi's were racist, but they also were big on socialized health care.Hate disguised as partisanship

Recently, I was driving home and inadvertently tuned to a conservative talk radio program.The vitriolic attacks on the president's health care plan were unnerving. Callers referred to Obama as everything but president.Did you ever listen to what people said about Bush? The man couldn't even visit his home without moonbat hippies picketing.Still, Carter's truthfulness will get him nowhere.

Neither will his untruthfulness. In kinder circles, the former president will be characterized as an aging man who sees America as it was, not as it is.Two words: Senior dementiaConservative talk show hosts and GOP leaders will show no mercy.I can only wish.But Obama knows there are still a lot of white folks who are having a difficult time accepting that there is a black family in the White House. These people condemn everything from the color of his dog to first lady Michelle Obama's shorts.Could there be a lot of people who have a difficult time accepting somebody with his extreme views in the White House?Because Obama chooses to ignore the racism shown toward him, that doesn't mean racism doesn't exist.Newsflash: the man was elected president. The fact that Mary Mitchell and others insist on referring to him always as a black man, instead of merely as a man, is hindering Martin Luther Kings dream of color not mattering.As a people, we pay a heavy price when we do not confront racism.Maybe we should stop making such a big deal of his race. The first time I ever heard of him, I assumed O'bama was an Irish name. Until the media spent the next couple years beating me over the head with his race. I wouldn't like him and more or any less if he were white, purple, or gold, as long as he remained a socialist. On the other hand, my opinion of Reagan wouldn't be any different if he had been black, purple, or gold.And it becomes harder for someone like Carter to have an honest conversation about race. The man was attacked by a rabbit. It's hard for him to have an honest conversation about anything.

The old man told a painful and unpopular truth.

I hope the White House doesn't turn this truth into a lie.If anybody could turn the truth into a lie, it's the folks in the White HouseWe pay a heavy price when we do not confront racism.We pay a heavier price when we do not stand up for the truth.

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